Old Man Lin leaned on his cane, shakily stepping into the courtyard supported by his great-grandson Lin Youyan.
Though old, his eyes were still sharp. As soon as he entered, he spotted the unfamiliar face sitting at the door of the side room.
His aged face was full of disdain.
"Ahem!"
After coming to a stop, he cleared his throat forcefully to draw the attention of the two at the door. Zhang Xuanniang turned to look and hurriedly stood up, supporting her waist as she greeted him properly.
"Third Old Master, what brings you here?"
No matter how her father-in-law cursed this old man at home, her mother-in-law had instructed that they must observe all the proper etiquette of juniors in public, to avoid giving people anything to criticize.
So she approached him with an enthusiastic expression.
"Please come inside, elder. My father and mother aren't home, but they should be back soon. Whatever business you have, please come sit inside and wait!"
Old Man Lin didn't move his feet, but just glanced sideways at Chu Chi, who was still sitting there dumbly, waiting for her to come pay her respects.
Lin Youyan, already ten years old, was a chubby child but quite sensible. He properly greeted his clan sister-in-law. One look at this kid and you could tell he was doted on at home, with a bright and lively personality.
"Sister-in-law, what are we eating for lunch today?"
He'd been thinking about it since last night, having not eaten meat for several days and feeling quite hungry.
Zhang Xuanniang, soon to be a mother herself, was especially kind and fond of chubby children.
"Hmm, we have lots of good things - rabbit, pheasant, all sorts. When it's time for lunch, Youyan, you can eat as much as you want, there's plenty!"
"Hee hee hee, thank you, sister-in-law!"
The chubby boy's eyes crinkled up as he smiled. Fortunately, being young with fair skin, when he smiled like that he looked like an adorable lucky charm.
"Why thank me? You should thank my aunt. All of this was hunted by my second aunt yesterday. Impressive, right?"
While she might be intimidated by her second aunt in her heart, it didn't stop Zhang Xuanniang's shallow admiration for strength from showing.
People say women are inferior to men, but look how amazing our second aunt is. Which man in the surrounding villages could hunt and kill a black bear or wild boar with their bare hands? My second aunt can!
"Yes, auntie is so amazing and good. Thank you, auntie!"
In Lin Youyan's small brain, food occupied a large portion. From a young age, anyone who could give him good food was automatically a good person in his book.
"Yan'er, be quiet," Old Man Lin coldly rebuked. Then he looked at Chu Chi with arrogant eyes, his tone not hiding his contempt and dissatisfaction.
"An elder is standing before you, yet you can sit there calmly? You have absolutely no manners! How can such a disrespectful creature be fit to be a wife in my Lin Family?"
Earlier, when he heard his great-grandson say he was coming to Lin Yuanshan's house for lunch with his father, Old Man Lin didn't know what the situation was. But after asking around and finding out, he nearly fainted from anger.
It was simply preposterous!
A woman of unknown background and origin, how dare she be matched with a scholar of the clan? Even if she was a widow, she still wouldn't be qualified.
He stared at Chu Chi with cold eyes, his voice even colder.
"Regarding the matter of you becoming Lin Yuanzhou's second wife, this old man absolutely does not agree! If you're smart, you'll quickly go back to wherever you came from. Otherwise, don't blame me for having people drag you to the authorities and accuse you of fraud."
Chu Chi didn't understand what he meant, but she clearly felt the obvious malice from him.
She slowly stood up, instinctively wanting to blow the enemy's head off, but then remembered An'an's repeated instructions and warnings.
Don't casually hit people, don't casually smash things, don't casually blow people's heads off.
As these two thoughts wrestled in her mind, Chu Chi's expressionless face just gave off a dull and stupid impression.
Zhang Xuanniang knew her own family's situation, so she quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Third Old Master, you don't know the full story. My second aunt and second uncle, their marriage was arranged when our old master was still alive.
It's a proper marriage arranged by parents and matchmakers, how could there be any fraud?
My father-in-law can testify to this!"
Even though just two days ago, she and her husband were muttering in their room that there seemed to be something fishy about this whole affair. But now Zhang Xuanniang insisted that this was an indisputable fact!
Old Man Lin angrily struck his cane on the ground.
"Hmph, I know exactly what kind of person Lin Yuanshan is. He thinks he can fool everyone by bringing up his dead father? Dream on!"
His eyes filled with disgust, making his face, already like dry tree bark, look even more grim and terrifying. His gaze fixed on Chu Chi was full of loathing.
"I don't care what your scheme is, get out of Lin Family Village immediately. I will never agree to such an absurd thing."
He's trying to drive me away?
Chu Chi lowered her eyes in thought.
An'an and Wan Wan are here, I am their mother, so naturally I should be here too. But now this old man wants to drive me away, meaning he wants to separate the three of us.
After separation, sell us.
Stealing family property equals no food.
An'an had explained these things many times, and she remembered them all. Her brain arbitrarily reassembled the situation in a new order, so the message fed back to Chu Chi was like this:
This old man wants to steal her food!
Feeling the full malice from him, a green, fierce light slowly appeared in Chu Chi's eyes.
Now two little figures appeared in her mind.
A little black devil baring its teeth said, whether you're a zombie or human now, anyone trying to steal your food is a bad guy. Take care of him!
A little white angel fluttering its wings said, listen to the devil!
As mentioned before, she was most adept at taking advice. Since both the angel and devil advised this, what was she waiting for?
She still swayed with slow, clumsy steps, but after reaching Old Man Lin, her hand shot out like lightning and grabbed his arm.
"Second aunt, no!"
"Great-grandfather!"
Two shocked cries came from Zhang Xuanniang and little chubby Lin respectively.
Old Man Lin hadn't even reacted before he felt a blur before his eyes, and his whole body whooshed into the air, grabbed by his old arms and legs and lifted up.
"Ah ah ah, put, put me down~~~"
A long string of soul-stirring trembling sounds dispelled all his previous arrogance. Lifted entirely over her head, his stiff old arms and legs now shook uncontrollably.
"Second aunt, quickly put down the Third Old Master!"
Zhang Xuanniang was so shocked by this scene that her voice nearly cracked with fear as she spoke.
Chu Chi turned to look at her, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
"Can't do it in the courtyard, it attracts mosquitoes."
Yesterday when she dragged back her prey, her sister-in-law later said that leaving a courtyard full of bloody smell was hard to clean up, and in summer it easily attracted mosquitoes. Although she didn't understand what the connection was between prey and mosquitoes. But never mind, she was all about being amenable.
If it couldn't be done in the courtyard, then throw him outside.
Chu Chi, a woman of action, expressionlessly carried the trembling Old Man Lin towards the outside of the courtyard.
